The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth first issued złotych banknotes in 1794 under the authority of Tadeusz Kościuszko. The 5, 10, 25, 50, and 100 złotych are depicted above. A 500 and 1,000 złotych were issued but are very rare.
This is a list of historical coins and banknotes of Poland.
Before the 20th century
[edit]Unit (ZŁ) | Obverse | Reverse |
---|---|---|
Coins (Kingdom of Poland) | ||
Banknotes (Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth) | ||
4 zł | ![]() |
![]() |
Banknotes (Duchy of Warsaw) | ||
Coins (1815-1850) | ||
2 zł | ||
5 zł | ||
Banknotes (1850-1917) |
20th-century and interwar
[edit]Unit (ZŁ) | Obverse | Reverse |
---|---|---|
Banknotes (1917-1924) | ||
1⁄2 mark | ![]() |
![]() |
10 marks | ![]() |
![]() |
50 marks | ![]() |
![]() |
100 marks | ![]() |
![]() |
Banknotes (1924-1939) | ||
10 gr | ![]() |
![]() |
2 zł (1936) | ![]() |
![]() |
5 zł (1930) | ![]() |
![]() |
10 zł (1929) | ![]() |
![]() |
20 zł (1929) | ![]() |
![]() |
20 zł (1931) | ![]() |
![]() |
20 zł (1936) | ![]() |
![]() |
50 zł (1929) | ![]() |
![]() |
50 zł (1936) | ![]() |
![]() |
100 zł (1934) | ![]() |
![]() |
Banknotes (1939-1944) | ||
1 zł (1940) | ||
1 zł (1941) | ![]() |
![]() |
2 zł (1941) | ![]() |
![]() |
5 zł (1940) | ||
5 zł (1941) | ![]() |
![]() |
10 zł (1940) | ![]() |
![]() |
20 zł (1940) | ![]() |
![]() |
50 zł (1940) | ![]() |
![]() |
50 zł (1941) | ![]() |
![]() |
100 zł (1940) | ![]() |
![]() |
100 zł (1941) | ![]() |
![]() |
500 zł (1940) | ![]() |
![]() |
Coins
[edit]1924 - See Dziennik Ustaw 1924-045
Post-WWII
[edit]Image | Unit (ZŁ) | Obverse | Reverse |
---|---|---|---|
Banknotes (1945-1950) | |||
[1] | 20 zł | ![]() |
![]() |
[2] | 100 zł | ![]() |
![]() |
[3] | 500 zł | ![]() |
![]() |
[4] | 1000 zł | ![]() |
![]() |
1950-currency reform
[edit]Series of 1948
[edit]The banknotes of the series of 1948 were designed by Polish painter and decorative artist Wacław Borowski. The introduction of these notes was part of the currency reform of 1950,[1] so the banknotes had to be printed quickly and in secrecy; so printing works in Poland (PWPW), Czechoslovakia (STC), Hungary (Pénzjegynyomda), Sweden (Riksbankens Sedeltryckeri), and Canada (British American Bank Note Company Ltd.) were involved.
Series of 1948 | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Image | Value | Dimensions | Description | Date of | |||||
Obverse | Reverse | Obverse | Reverse | first printing | issue | withdrawal | lapse | ||
![]() |
![]() |
2 zł | 120 mm × 58 mm | Face value | The design of the (then) future NBP building at Warsaw Insurgents Square in Warsaw | 1 July 1948 | 30 October 1950 | 1 January 1960 | 30 June 1960 |
![]() |
![]() |
5 zł | 142 mm × 67 mm | Face value | Farmer plowing a field with a tractor | ||||
![]() |
![]() |
10 zł | 148 mm × 70 mm | Portrait of a peasant (inspired by Mateusz Jóźwiak, the creator of cast printing matrices at PWPW) | Peasants loading sheaves to a ladder wagon. | 31 December 1965 | 30 June 1966 | ||
![]() |
![]() |
20 zł | 160 mm × 76 mm | Portrait of a woman in kerchief (nicknamed "Anielka"; the portrait was supposedly inspired by Helena Michalik (née Bujak), who was a friend of Wacław Borowski)[2][3] | Kraków Cloth Hall | 30 June 1977 | 31 December 1977 | ||
![]() |
![]() |
50 zł | 164 mm × 78 mm | Portrait of a fisherman | Port of Gdynia | 30 June 1978 | 31 December 1978 | ||
![]() |
![]() |
100 zł | 172 mm × 82 mm | Portrait of a worker (a so-called "Pstrowski"; portrait inspired by Bronisław Tomaszewski, who was a driver at PWPW) | View of a factory with smoking chimneys (probably Łódź) | 30 June 1977 | 31 December 1977 | ||
![]() |
![]() |
500 zł | 178 mm × 85 mm | Portrait of a miner in helmet | Underground mining scene | 31 December 1977 | 30 June 1978 | ||
These images are to scale at 0.7 pixel per millimetre. For table standards, see the banknote specification table. |
Series of 1974
[edit]1974 Series | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Image | Value | Dimensions | Colour | Obverse | Reverse | Printed | ||
![]() ![]() |
10 zł | 139 x 63 mm | Bluish green | Józef Bem | Indication of value | 1982 | ||
20 zł | Multicoloured | Romuald Traugutt | Indication of value | 1982 | ||||
50 zł | Green | Karol Świerczewski | Grunwald Cross Medal | 1975 | ||||
[5] | 100 zł | Red | Ludwik Waryński | "Proletaryat" (19th century Polish socialist party) | 1975 | |||
[6] | 200 zł | Violet | Jarosław Dąbrowski | Monument to the Dead (of the Paris Commune) by Paul Moreau-Vauthier in the Père Lachaise Cemetery | 1976 | |||
500 zł | Brown | Tadeusz Kościuszko | "Żywią i Bronią" (They feed and defend), flag of Polish soldiers in Kraków during the Kościuszko Uprising | 1974 | ||||
1000 zł | Blue | Nicolaus Copernicus | Heliocentric Solar System | 1975 | ||||
2000 zł | Brown | Mieszko I | Bolesław I the Brave | 1977 | ||||
[7] | 5000 zł | Green | Frédéric Chopin | Polonaise notes | 1982 | |||
[8] | 10 000 zł | Green and violet | Stanisław Wyspiański | Kraków | 1988 | |||
[9] | 20 000 zł | Orange | Maria Skłodowska-Curie | Nuclear reactor "Ewa" near Warsaw | 1989 | |||
[10] | 50 000 zł | Brown | Stanisław Staszic | The Staszic Palace in Warsaw | 1989 | |||
[11] | 100 000 zł | Blue | Stanisław Moniuszko | Teatr Wielki, Warsaw | 1990 | |||
[12] | 200 000 zł | Brown | Coat of arms | Warsaw | 1989 | |||
[13] | 500 000 zł | Blue and brown | Henryk Sienkiewicz | "Trilogy" | 1990 | |||
[14] | 1 000 000 zł | Light brown | Władysław Reymont | Country landscape | 1991 | |||
2 000 000 zł | Multicoloured | Ignacy Jan Paderewski | The 1919 Coat of arms of Poland | 1992 | ||||
These images are to scale at 0.7 pixels per millimeter, a standard for world banknotes. |